Life in Death
by xXDream
Summary: Death is said to be the end of everything. Why? Because we do not know what lies beyond it. Though... Some consider it a curse, but there are times when rare existences are given a chance to see it... And to them, death is only a new beginning.
1. Feral Prelude

Hello!

Here's the introductory chapter to an angsty Yuuram love story~ Hope you will enjoy it.

- Contains dark themes and a character death. You've been **warned**. -

Kyou Kara Maou belongs to Takabayashi Tomo. No owning on my part.

~*~o~*~

Life in Death

-Feral Prelude-

He opened his eyes to a brightly lit room. That alone was worrisome. Why was it so bright? He could not recall any possible reasons for it. A sudden thought flickered in his mind.

"Yuuri!" He bolted up and looked around with panic in his eyes. Gisela, who was sitting by his side jumped up from the sudden movement. He ignored her presence however, because his eyes caught sight of another figure on the bed next to him.

"Yuuri…" He whispered, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Yuuri was tucked securely under his blanket and seemed to be sleeping; his paper pale face looked so calm. A few tears ran down Wolframs' face as he slowly leaned down and hugged his fiancé.

"I'm so sorry… Please, get well soon…" He mumbled into the double-black's hair and kissed his forehead. Unwelcoming coldness greeted his lips with that small touch. A choked sob came from behind him. He blinked in confusion and turned around to face the female healer. Only then did he notice her reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Then, he heard a muffled yet familiar voice behind the door, the owner of which appeared to be giving orders. A second later a trembling Gunter entered the room, his eyes shadowed by his long lilac tresses. Stone-faced Gwendal came in after him and closed the door quietly. However, after the later caught his younger brother's gaze, he seemed a little surprised. Before any words could be shared between them, Gunter strode to the bed, grabbed Wolframs' shoulders and shook him roughly.

"What is wrong with you? While he's in his quarters, you are the one in charge of His Majesty's security! How could you let that happen?" He yelled into Wolfram's surprised face, purple eyes shining with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

"Gunter!" Gwendal warned.

"Did he mean so little to you?.." A few tears ran down the long-haired males' face and his hands on the blond demon's shoulders started trembling. Wolfram felt torn between shock and utter rage. What right did Gunter have to doubt Yuuri's importance to him? And he said it as though Yuuri had…

Gisela stepped in between the two and gently pushed the older man away from Wolfram, who seemed to be surprised by her action.

"He's… Not yet aware of it, father…" She mumbled and looked away. At that Gunter closed his lips in a thin line and Gwendals' expressionless face seemed to get a little nervous. Wolfram scowled.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" The young fire demon growled and turned to his brother anxiously.

"Aniue! What's happening? Yuuri's going to be alright, isn't he? Tell me!" He demanded loudly, though his voice was filled with obvious worry. Gwendal did not respond for what seemed like an eternity. He chose to look away instead, making Wolframs' heart skip a beat. Instead of waiting for an answer, the young prince looked at his fiancé with fresh tears gathering in his eyes.

"Yuuri?.." He whispered pathetically and touched the boys' cheek gently. It was so cold. He heard a shuffle of clothes and turned around to see Giselas' teary rifle-green eyes staring into his own emerald ones.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Wolfram… Yuuri… He's dead." She whispered so quietly that Wolfram almost missed it. However, he didn't. He wished that he did though.

All color drained from his face and his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. There was no way that was true. That couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Wolfram lowered his gaze to the bed sheets, blonde strands covering his eyes.

"You seriously fail at being funny…" He growled out and looked up with pure hatred in his eyes. The occupants of the room froze up, dreading what was going to come next.

"Yuuri, the Great King of Demons that surpassed Shinou himself, is dead?.. The same Yuuri, who completely destroyed the Originators and managed to make humans our allies?.. The Yuuri, who has the strongest magic in all Demon Kingdom? The one, who captured so many hearts and managed to get himself out of so many pinch situations? He is dead? You want me to believe he died, just like that?" His voice rose with every sentence as he stood up on the bed, trembling in rage. The blond demon took a sharp intake of air.

"He can't be dead! He's too much of a wimp to die!" With that, Wolfram turned to the figure on the bed and his rage was suddenly shadowed with distress. With tightly clenched fists he kneeled next to the pale boy and looked at him intensely. Indeed, he was not breathing. Wolfram laid his head on the others' chest and prayed he would hear something, anything. It was quiet. His heart didn't beat. The sudden apprehension fell heavily on his shoulders – they were not lying. Yuuri _was_ dead. _Yuuri_ was _dead_.

Wolfram clenched his teeth as tears started streaming down his cheeks and falling on the blanket that covered the figure under him. How could Yuuri die? How dare he? He had a daughter, a fiancé and a whole country to rule over, for Shinou's sake! How could he just leave all that behind? That's right... He couldn't. Wolfram swore to protect him – he couldn't just let his king die. Yuuri had to come back to life. He must!

"Wake up, you stupid wimp! Wake up!" The blond demon clenched his fists tighter and slammed them on Yuuri's chest. Weakly the first time, then once again, stronger with each hit. It was all his fault… He failed to protect the one he truly cared for. His world seemed to slip from under his feet.

"Don't you dare leave me and Greta alone… We love you… So please…" His voice was merely a whisper. After the fourth time of landing his fists on the chest he felt a strong grip on his wrists that prevented their movements. With a sharp gasp, Wolfram looked at the person who stopped him. Gwendal, who had been deadly quiet up till then, now stared at his younger brother with a visible streak of pain in his dark blue eyes.

"That's enough, Wolfram. Do not mangle His Majesty's corpse." His voice sounded serious, almost scolding. Yet his eyes betrayed his lack of resolve – he looked almost apologetic. Wolfram stared at him for some time before shaking his head and freeing his wrists. He quickly wiped his still streaming tears away and scowled at his brother, then at the remaining two demons in the room. Gunter seemed broken, his cheeks shone from the tears that ran down his face. Gisela was not facing them, so he couldn't see her face.

"Fetch that Sage!" Wolfram suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone in the room.

"He's called the Great Wise Man! Surely he should know how to fix Yuuri! He can't die just like that! There has to be a way to bring him back! Shinou cannot let his descendant die!" Wolfram bolted up from the bed and strode past the stupefied royal advisor and his adoptive daughter. Reaching the door, still clad in only his nightgown, the fire demon looked back at the other figures in the room and growled lowly.

"What are you standing around for? We need to get Mura-" he yelled but stopped short as he noticed his brother's green uniform just a small step away from him. Surprised, he looked up to meet Gwendal's eyes, but as he did so, he felt a blunt object come in contact with the back of his neck and the world started closing in on him. He never reached the ground though, because strong arms wrapped around his small figure and held him up.

"I'm sorry, Wolfram." That was the last thing that he heard before his vision turned black.

~*~o~*~

Gwendal lifted up the unconscious body of his youngest brother and turned to face Gunter and Gisela.

"I'm going to bring Lord von Bielefeld to his room. Gunter, make sure nobody in the castle learns about this incident or the fact that His Majesty passed away. We cannot dismiss the possibility of the assassin still being in the castle. Also, make sure to send Princess Greta and former Queen Cecilie off to von Voltaire castle first thing in the morning. Tell the girl that they are going to celebrate the local festive there. She must absolutely not learn of this. Gisela, employ Dacascos and a few other soldiers to guard this door. Under no circumstances do let any maids or soldiers in. I will be sending Anissina your way, work together to identify the exact source and circumstances of His Majesty's death." With that Gwendal went to the closet and retrieved a spare blanket, which he draped over Wolfram's motionless body. Gisela nodded in determination and was about to leave, but Gwendal stopped her.

"Wait. There's one more thing. Lord Weller should be back by dawn. At that time all of us must meet in His Majesty's study to figure out the situation. Wolfram should be up by that time, so he should be able to fill us in on the details of our enemy. Also, Gisela, I want you to not leave His Majesty's side at any time while that happens. I trust you with this task. Is that clear?" He questioned and the younger female nodded before leaving the room to gather the guards. Gunter got rid of the remains of his tears and looked at Gwendal with concern.

"You know, you should let it out as well. Keeping it inside will only drive you insane." The fair-haired man said. Gwendal gave him an empty stare.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He said before leaving the room with the blond bundle in his hands.

~*~o~*~

Thanks for reading! Reviews are more than welcome!


	2. Backstage Meeting

I was lucky enough to have no work that required my immediate attention today. Yay! That means that I could write more and update this story. I hope you will enjoy it.

Thank you everyone who alerted, favourited and reviewed the first chapter! It made me feel loved… And love usually means faster updates *wink wink*. Aaanyways, the next update might take longer, because college rarely gives me time to rest. Sorry about that.

This chapter is the first part that begins to explain what happened to Yuuri. The next one will connect all the dots. And after that, Yuuram will begin. Please be patient with me till that happens!

Kyou Kara Maou belongs to Takabayashi Tomo. No owning on my part.

~*~o~*~

-Backstage Meeting-

The sun was coming up in the horizon, shredding the darkness that enveloped the Blood Pledge Castle bit by bit. Conrart moved through the quiet halls of the castle in huge strides, determined to reach the meeting place as soon as possible. There was no movement in the castle yet, except for the soldiers who were on patrol. Seeing their commander they greeted him politely, but the man moved past without sparing them a glance. That was unlike him at all, but he figured it was better than showing them his stress-marred face. Surely, then they would know that something was definitely wrong. Not that they didn't have any suspicions yet… Conrart overheard two guards talking in hushed voices as he walked past one of the corridors. He frowned at the memory.

"_Don't you think it's w__eird that the nobles are running around at night time? And having the number of soldiers currently on the castle grounds increase… Do you think something could have happened?"_

"_Beats me. But there surely should be a reason for all that movement. I heard they put guards outside His Majesty's bedroom. Do you think the castle could be in danger?"_

"_Or His Majesty is in danger. Either way, we should keep our eyes wide open for anything suspicious."_

"_Yeah, that's right."_

Conrart hastened his pace. He could not tell them anything, not yet. He could not do anything in this situation. First Julia and now Yuuri… He was useless to do anything back then and he was still useless now. A sharp pang struck his chest. He lost the same soul twice.

Conrart shook his head in a pitiful attempt to get rid of the depressing thoughts. He knew that if he kept thinking in that direction he would break down right then and there. He could not do that yet, a clear mind was needed to cope with the situation at hand. He would do what needed to be done – temporarily bury the pain inside his heart.

~*~o~*~

A pair of black eyes blinked as they looked up into the gradually lightening up sky. The young double-black sage pulled at the reins of his horse urging the animal to go faster. He had to reach the castle soon.

"_Daikenja" __a quiet yet serious voice woke him up. Murata blinked tiredly and sat up in his bed. In front of him stood Shinou. The double-black quickly reached for his bedside table and put on his glasses. He could make out Shinou's expression now. The Great First King was frowning._

"_What is it?" Murata asked suspiciously. Shinou was silent for a few moments before replying._

"_Get up and go to the Blood Pledge Castle. Tell Lord von Voltaire and the others that they must wait three days before announcing Yuuri's death." Shinou said before evaporating into thin air. Murata's eyes widened. _

"_Shibuya… Is dead?" He asked into the empty room unable to believe what he just heard. However, he knew that Shinou was not a person to joke about such things. He was kind of a manipulative bastard, yes, but even he had limits. Without much pondering the sage jumped from the bed and got ready for the trip. _

Soon enough the Great Wise Man reached the castle, left his horse in the care of a stable worker and made his way to His Majesty's study. He was hoping he was not too late.

~*~o~*~

Gwendal sat behind the table with a grim expression. Next to the table stood Gunter, Anissina, Celi and Hube. Yozak stood a little further away, his back leaning on the wall and an unreadable expression on his face. Gunter was tapping his feet impatiently and looking out the window at the rising sun. He was getting impatient. Hube's aura radiated barely suppressed killing intent, but other than that he was standing calmly. Anissina stood with her arms crossed across her chest, her face held a frown. Celi was furious.

"Mother, please, leave the castle with Greta." Gwendal sighed as he looked at the woman standing in front of him.

"I will. But you cannot expect me to go without telling me anything! What is happening in this castle? Gwendal on Voltaire, answer me now!" Her gaze held a mixture of anger and worry. Gwendal sighed again. At that moment the door opened and a pale Conrart walked in. Everyone's gazes immediately fell on him, expecting something. Conrart gritted his teeth and shook his head. The tiny flicker of hope that ignited the atmosphere a split second ago had completely vanished. With that, Celi understood that something was completely wrong. She left Gwendals' side and approached her middle son.

"What is happening, Conrart? What is everybody hiding from me?" Her voice was soft as was her hand that lightly stroked his cheek. He looked into his mothers' eyes and couldn't help the unbearably sad expression that appeared on his face.

"Mother… You shouldn't be here…" He said in a dreary voice. Gwendal came up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Please, Mother…" His voice sounded tired. Celi frowned but gave up.

"Fine. If neither of you is telling me anything, then I guess there should be a very good reason. I'll trust you this time and do as you say. But when we will come back I want to hear the truth. Surely that is not too much to ask." She stated and left the room. The two brothers sighed in relief.

"If Mother knew, she wouldn't be able to hide it. We can't let Greta know yet. So it's better to send them both off." Gwendal explained it and Conrart nodded in understanding. They both approached the table. The heavy atmosphere of the room was steadily increasing.

~*~o~*~

Wolfram sleepily opened his eyes and looked around. He was in his old room and the sun was just above the horizon. He gasped as the memories of last night filled him. Fresh tears started gathering at the corners of his slightly puffy eyes. He still refused to believe that his beloved fiancé was no longer in this world. The knuckles of his hands turned white as he gripped the blanket tighter. What will he tell Greta? That she, yet again, lost her parent? What will become of the kingdom? The opposing countries might start another war… What will he himself do? How will he be able to live without Yuuri?

He quickly wiped away the tears he didn't even know were flowing. Wolfram decided that right now he needed to see his brothers. He rose up from the bed, quickly changed into his uniform and left the room. Judging from the silence in the castle, nobody yet knew the truth. He put on a straight face and disappeared in the corridors.

~*~o~*~

"Conrad" Gwendal addressed his younger half-brother. Conrart nodded and everyone's stares fell on him.

"Firstly, where is Wolfram? Is he still unconscious?" The half-demon inquired. Gwendal shook his head.

"He woke up about an hour after you rushed out. However, due to his behavior I had to put him back to sleep. He should be here as soon as he wakes up." The earth demon replied. Conrart nodded again.

"Then I should start from the beginning…"

_Conrart __was in the monitoring process of the castle security, which meant he had to go around the place and check if the soldiers were not sleeping in their positions. This wasn't a hard task, mainly because no soldiers ever dared to sleep or neglect their duties in any other way. Still, the size of the castle made it into a long process. Conrart smiled as he walked past a couple of guards who diligently saluted him. The castle was quiet at this time of night._

_The commander was nearing the King's quarters when a loud scream suddenly startled him. The voice sounded like Wolfram's and it came from Yuuri's room. Without a second thought Conrart ran to the room and swung open the door. The room had a few candles lit, courtesy to Wolfram and his fire magic, so it was quite easy to see what was happening inside. The sight in front of him made him freeze. On the bed lay motionless Yuuri with blood dripping down his chin. Next to him was Wolfram, who appeared to be in the middle of swinging his sword at the invisible enemy in front of him, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched in desperation. The problem was that he also wasn't moving. He was frozen in place, not even blinking, as though he had been turned to stone. Sudden movement caught his eye and he looked at the window of the room. There, on the ledge, sat an unknown creature. It was the size of an average cat and had a body similar to that of a macaque, with black fur covering it entirely. Atop of its' head were two large ears and its small round eyes shone with blood red color. Suddenly, the said creature turned around and two pitch black wings, similar to those of Fly-Bone Tribe, erupted from its' back. They were double in size of the creature and with a light flap the being disappeared from sight. That was the moment Gunter rushed into the room, accidentally pushing Conrart in the process. Gasping, Conrart came back to his senses and ran to the bed. With a yell of "Yuuri!" Gunter followed._

_Getting close the half-demon noticed three things. First, Yuuri was deathly pale; second, Wolfram had tears on his face; and third, neither of them was breathing. Alerted Conrart grabbed Yuuri's shoulders and shook him, trying to wake him up. Gunter was flailing his hands in panic and gasping, but thankfully he wasn't shouting. _

"_Gunter, get Gisela here immediately!" Conrart commanded and the said man ran out of the room. Yuuri showed no signs of waking up. The brown-haired man quickly turned to Wolfram and attempted to shake him as well. This action brought him results, as immediately Wolfram's body went limp in his hands. His breathing was erratic, but at least it was there. Slightly relieved, Conrart laid his brother on the bed, turned back to Yuuri and attempted to shake him again. Unlike Wolfram, he didn't stir. _

"_Your Majesty, wake up, please. Yuuri. Open your eyes, Yuuri. Please respond." Conrart pleaded. Yuuri still didn't breathe. The older male moved his hand to the King's neck and checked for the pulse. It wasn't there. Panicking, he leaned down to listen to his heart. It was silent. Conrart leaned back and sat on the floor, his eyes wide in shock. Yuuri showed no signs of life whatsoever. At that moment a panting Gunter and Gisela rushed into the room and slammed the door behind them. The young woman quickly made her way to the bed and, after seeing that Wolfram was simply unconscious with his breathing already even, turned her complete attention on Yuuri. Conrart shakily stood up with Gunters' help, who seemed to be trembling in fear. It took a minute for Gisela to inspect the damage. What she said after that minute had made both men stop their breaths. Gunter leaned on the wall for support, his eyes had started to water. Conrart shook his head and pushed teary-eyed Gisela away from Yuuri. There was one more thing that could work. At least it worked on Earth. But Yuuri came from Earth anyways, so it had to work on him. He took a deep breath and leaned closer to Yuuri's face._

_Gunter and Gisela were in shock. Conrart just _kissed_ His Majesty! Twice! Gisela let out a sharp gasp and covered her mouth, while Gunter opened his mouth in protest, but didn't find any words. He was too shocked to even try to find his voice. Conrarts' lips did not linger on Yuuris' and instead his hands were put on the younger demons' chest. With sharp movements he pressed at the others' ribcage thirty times. Then, again, he moved his mouth atop Yuuris' and performed the same thing again. After a few minutes of desperate attempts Conrart finally stopped. Yuuri could no longer be revived. Gunter finally found his voice._

"_What do you think you're doing, Conrart?" The royal advisor inquired with a frown, though it looked strange on his tear stained face. _

"_Artificial respiration. They use it on Earth to stimulate the blood flow and revive the person when he stops breathing…" Conrart whispered and hung his head low, eyes watering. There were blood marks on his lips and cheek from Yuuri's mouth. He quickly wiped them away. Before anyone could say anything, he continued._

"_But it didn't work…"He trailed off. Gunter gritted his teeth, anger rising up. _

"_Who could have done such a thing! We must commence the search immediately!" He roared. Conrart suddenly gasped._

"_I saw the culprit!" He exclaimed and ran to the door. Gunter grabbed his wrist before he could leave though. _

"_Who was it?" He demanded. Conrart shook his head._

"_Not a 'who', a 'what'." He replied before freeing his wrist from the now surprised Gunter and continuing on his way. _

"_I'll be back at dawn!" He yelled before disappearing from sight._

_Conrart fetched a couple of his soldiers and they left the castle on their horses in haste. The being flew towards the forest, so they attempted to follow it there. Conrart prayed that his search would be fruitful._

"In the end, I could not find any leads to that creature…" Conrart ended his part of the story. The residents of the room seemed fairly surprised that it was a creature that did so. Well, at least everyone but Anissina. She only frowned deeper.

"That explains some things…" She mused and everyone turned to look at her. At that moment the door swung open, successfully startling everyone in the room. Yozak reached for his sword, but quickly changed his mind. At the entrance stood a young double-black male, whose expression was conveniently hidden behind his glasses. He closed the door behind him and approached the group of people.

"Your Excellency." Conrart said in acknowledgement and offered him a small mirthless smile. The Sage returned the gesture.

"You know, you should sometimes include me in the loop. I _am_ the Sage. I might be able to help out." Murata sighed in complaint.

"Precisely because you are the Sage, Your Excellency, we figured you would show up without being directly given the news." Gwendal replied and Murata gave him a small smile.

"You overestimate me, Lord von Voltaire. In any case, I came with a request from The Great One." That last sentence quickly gathered everyone's attention. Murata's glasses gleamed as a few sunrays were reflected off them.

"The Great One requested that you break the Next Day Rule and not announce Shibuya's death until three days have passed."

Gwendal rose from his chair and opened his mouth. However, Gunter beat him to it.

"Why is that? What is The Great One planning?" The long-haired male asked suspiciously. This whole matter seemed dubious. Murata shook his head.

"I wish he had told me. After telling me this he disappeared and wouldn't appear or answer me even if I went to interrogate him in the temple. That guy simply chooses the worst times to disappear." Gunter frowned but remained quiet. Gwendal sighed.

"If that's the will of The Great One, then we must abide by it."

"Then, I would like to know how Yuuri died." Murata switched the topic. Anissina came forth.

"Gisela and I had examined the body. He appears to have no external injuries whatsoever. As for internal ones, there are a few broken ribs, but that couldn't be the cause of death." She said and Gunter looked at Conrart, who then cleared his throat.

"Actually… I believe I am the source of the broken ribs. The pressure of the thing that humans on Earth call CPR, the Artificial Respiration, sometimes leaves such consequences." He said apologetically. Murata blinked but said nothing. He knew Conrart was familiar with many things of Earth, but he was still mildly surprised. Anissina nodded in understanding and continued.

"Well, other than that there are no external or internal injuries. We suspected poison as the cause of death. However… Usually, even after death, when the ribs are broken, hypodermic marks caused by the effusion of blood form in the injured place. His Majesty's body did not produce such marks. The reason for that is the lack of blood in his system." At that she took a long breath before continuing.

"We wanted to draw some blood for testing purposes. However, no matter which artery or vein we tried, no blood came out. There was only some of it in his Majesty's mouth. Other than that, he was completely drained. It seems like all the liquid simply vanished. There's no other way it could be drawn without any cuts or needle jabs." Anissina finished her explanation. Everyone was deadly silent. Finally, Gwendal spoke up.

"How can that be? Is it not possible that blood could be extracted through mouth? You said there was some in there." Gwendal inquired.

"Yes, it is possible. However, in order to do that there should still be some injuries inside his throat or mouth. Since there are none, this cannot be the case." Anissina answered. Murata frowned.

_Drying the person of__f their blood? That sounds somewhat… Familiar…_

"Aniue!" Came a loud voice from outside the room. A split second later the doors were flung open with such force that they hit the walls on the sides and shook in their hinges. An angry Wolfram stormed in and glared at his brother, before noticing all the people in the room. His angry look subsided a little. He didn't expect so many people to be there. The heavy atmosphere caught up to him.

"Wolfram. Just on time." Gwendal said before Yozak closed the abused door behind them.

~*~o~*~

Somewhere in the treasure room of the castle loud and creepy wailing could be heard.

~*~o~*~

Hopefully that wasn't very confusing.

Reviews and criticism are more than welcome.


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